V7Goose

I don't know the firing order off-hand, but they do not fire together - I looked at the cam timing and firing pattern once, and the engine has a strange non-symmetrical overlap. Lugging an engine is never good, but especially not on a short-stroke multi like this. Keep those revs up, especially when accelerating hard. The bike will run happily all day at 2,000 RPM, but if you are gonna lay on the throttle hard you need to be at least 3,000 or above. If your bike shakes at 65 MPH (it's running about 3,000 RPM in 5th gear there), you need to get the carbs synced. Goose

I don't know about your battery tender plug, but most of them are small wires and have a small in-line fuse - they are only intended for about a 3 amp load, and one of those compressors generally pulls about 12 amps. IMHO the only safe way to use one on a bike is to install a new power circuit with big enough wire and fuse to handle that load. And yes, there are two auxiliary power circuits and plugs on the Venture. One is the cigarette lighter-type plug in the fairing, and the other is a white two-pin plug next to the battery. Both fuses are inside the right lower fairing. Here is a thread where I described a way to use that second plug: http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=20166&highlight=plug Goose

The stock power outlets on the RSV ABSOLUTELY will NOT handle an air compressor. Both of them are only 5 amp fused (and equally small wires). If you want to use one of those compressors, install a new power outlet in the hole under the left rear side of the rider's seat (just remove the rubber cap already there), use 14AWG wire and a 15 amp fuse. Goose

Oh man, whatever you do, don't pull the "chunk" - that's gotta hurt!

We haven't looked at the tire any closer than those pictures - the bike is kinda hard to move and it just doesn't seem worth the effort. We know the road was absolutely clear anywhere near where the tire blew. It is always possible that he hit something that started a cut somewhere earlier - we did ride through some very poor small towns along the border. But the tire was only on for 65 miles, so road hazard seems pretty unlikely if he didn't see or feel anything. And then the trailer he was pulling is another variable. It is not real big and heavy, but any trailer still puts additional stress on a rear tire, especially during maneuvers. I don't think the Dunlop EIII is a reinforced tire like the Avon Venom is, but it still has a higher load rating than stock (stock rear tires are 74H, the EIII is 77H, and the Venom is 80H). I don't know what caused the failure, but since this is the first one I have heard of, I'm not spooked yet. I have two more Dunlop EIIIs sitting in my garage right now that I will mount on my RSV when I get back after this trip. Goose

I don't know what your problem is, but if you start messing with it you will give up all hope of Yamahaha ever fixing it as they should. I have over 60,000 miles on my 05 + 13,000 on an 07 with zero brake problems (other than very short life on stock rear pads - replaced by Yamahaha under warranty), but my brother's 07 had warped rotors all the way around (also replaced by Yamahaha under warranty). One thing I do know for a fact is the rear brake on the RSV almost always wears unevenly - the inside pad will hit metal when the outside pad is only 1/2 gone. You can use this to PROOVE to the shop and Yamahaha that the brake is deffective and must be fixed. No matter if you are riding the brake or not, BOTH pads should wear evenly. But uneven pad wear has nothing to do with brake pulsing, that is simply a warped rotor, which should be covered under warranty, no matter what. You can just use the uneven wear to ovecome their refusal to honor the warranty. So what I am trying to suggest is that you don't bend over. If the crappy shop won't honor the warranty, call Yamahaha direct and complain about their refusal to honor a legal warranty. Don't mess with it; make them do what they legally have to do. Goose

That is a major battery failure, not just a worn out battery. No way any battery should fail at all in two years, but your type of failure is obviously an internal problem. I'd jut go into a Yamahaha shop and tell them you want a warranty replacement - be assertive but nice, clearly indicating you know what is wrong and that it absolutely should be covered (as opposed to tentatively asking if they will cover it). May not work, but I think you have a better than even chance of getting it replaced. Goose

If you can't find it anywhere, I'd look to see if PO coiled it up and stored it under the tank. Goose

Hey all, thanx for all the thoughts and wishes. Things are getting back together for us. 5bikes and his gracious wife have done everything they possibly could to help us and make us welcome and comfortable. We finally got out of their hair today and into a hotel! Insurance (Progressive) totaled the bike today - not too much surprise there: [ATTACH]27401[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]27402[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]27403[/ATTACH] Waiting on final settlement from insurance tomorrow. The tire was made in the 38th week of 2008. Here is what the blowout looks like: [ATTACH]27404[/ATTACH] Tom has already closed a deal on a new 2009 Venture S - we pick it up tomorrow. Hope to be back on the road by Friday! Goose

Thanx Buddy, I really needed that! But just for the record, he is a hell of lot more ornery than I am!!

Chuck did a great job of explaining what happened. I cannot explain what caused the catastrophic failure of that tire, but we know that this has not yet been reported on Dunlop E IIIs. Not only did we carefully check the pressure when we mounted the tire (40 PSI max sidewall), but we re-checked it about two hours later with a digital gauge before we headed out. Sorry no pictures yet - I have plenty, but just not fealing like uploading them just yet. The road was clear, Tom was behind me, no road hazards that I saw, tire blew in a straight stretch leading into a long sweeper. Tom did a fantastic job of piloting the bike between killer obsticals, and it is amazing we have nothing worse than a totaled bike from this. We will deal with insurance tomorrow and decide what happens next. We really apprciate the thoughts and wonderful help from the great members we have met here in El Paso. Goose

Just thought maybe I should add a few more words about the biker gang here that has El Paso a bit on edge. I already mentioned in my last update that they don't like 2nd gens much out here - but there do seem to be 5,000 or 6,000 antique 1st gen riders around (from what I hear), and 5bikes is the ring leader! Sounds to me like Chuck is secretly working to aquire and move as many of them old bikes to the dessert as possible, then his gang goes out and shanghis some poor unsuspecting local, tatoos code words and gang colors on his scalp, and tells him he WILL ride and join the club OR ELSE! Many of them called to 'check up on' the new guys in town, but only one would stoop low enough to come over and associate with riders of modern machinery (the afore-mentioned l_g). He is really a great guy, but I can't tell you any more about him - gotta respect his cover, ya know? If I spill the beans, a squad of secret service goons might show up and break my thumbs! Man, Chuck's got the neighborhood so on edge that his neighbor even brings in his trash can for him in the morning before he gets up, and another comes over a couple of times a day to check in and get clearance on what bike to buy next and what repair is allowed! This place is tough, I'm tellin' ya! Goose

Actually, this is not a new subject, but I think we need to figure out a way to keep it up front so all new members find it early - maybe just a simple sticky message . . . The VAST majority of us (at least the modern bike owners - doubt there are any owners of them antique 1st gens who are old enough to have bought it new! ) have had a lesson in checking bolts. Yamahaha seems to do a terrible job of properly setting these bikes up. If you don't go over a new 2nd gen from front to back, you are gonna loose something. Most common are the front fender trim bolts and the shifter pivot bolt. ABSOLUTELY lock-tite that shifter bolt! After that, the common complaints are the bag hinge screws behind the canvas cover, the two flat-head screws holding the trunk lid prop arm, and all the big bolts along the top sides of the rear fender that secure the trunk and grab rails. But don't just stop with those, it is good practice to check just about all easily accessible chassis bolts and screws. I haven't heard of any problems with engin or drive train bolts coming loose. One last comment, since I have mentioned the use of Lock-tite - do NOT use it on any bolt or screw that touches or passes through ABS plastic! Many ofus here are tired of hearing that warning, but it is still important for new folks.

I guess I need to catch up with where we are on this here trip to nowhere. Sat morning,3/14, dawned with lots of local fog and kinda cold:[ATTACH]27340[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]27341[/ATTACH] Temp was around 26 degrees. But it warmed OK by about 1100 and we took off in 34 degree weather that felt pretty nice. Roads were dry and clear, but the high dessert had quite a bit of snow in places:[ATTACH]27338[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]27339[/ATTACH] We had a great ride down to old route 66 and over to Adrian where we got fuel; neither of us felt cold at all. Then we cut south and thought the hoary winter gods were coming to get us! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures here, but I'll try to describe it. For the 40 miles south of I40 the fields were spewing fog like and Icelandic geyser. The wind was strong enough to have this fog and the low clouds look like we were constantly riding into a solid blizzard front! The temps dropped down from around 40 to 32, where the roads had not had any time to clear from the snow storm, and we were riding in a mix of slush and mud thrown off all the farm truck tires. Nasty! A day that had been so beautiful and warm for the past several hours became cold, damp and miserable. The fog and slush cleared after about 45 miles, but the rest of the day never did feel warm again, even when the temperatures got into the mid 50s. But we saw lots of great panhandle country, with a tremendous mix of farm field, ranch, open range, dessert and grasslands. At one point we had a whole herd of mule deer slowly cross the road right in front of us, led by a fantastic fat buck with great rack. Just watching those deer slowly approach the fence and then magically spring over it like a mythical beast was a great interlude. When we got to Hobbs, NM, close to the bottom of the panhandle, we had covered a bit over 300 miles and decided to stop for some well earned martinis! With Sunday, temps started back to the great riding weather the area has seen for the past six weeks, starting off in the 40s, but staying in the 60s most of the day. Just perfect riding weather. I found the USGS survey pin at the SE corner of the panhandle and the Geocache there. Not much to look at, but a few pix anyway: [ATTACH]27349[/ATTACH] QuickSilver with the USGS marker post in background [ATTACH]27350[/ATTACH] The actual survey pin - not too impressive [ATTACH]27347[/ATTACH] Deer tracks right behind QuickSilver [ATTACH]27345[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]27346[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]27348[/ATTACH] After leaving the corner post I filled up in Kermit and headed west for El Paso. 5bikes had tried to warn me about limited gas and winds, but I thought I was too experienced and smart for that! I can almost always get better than 200 miles out of a tank, and you can see the extra 1.5 gallons I was hauling in some of the pictures, so with only about 200 miles from Kermit to El Paso, I thought I was jake! Hell, I was so confident I had it aced, I didn't even bother to slow down in the massive headwinds I hit during the climb up to Guadalupe Mountains National Park (try not to look at the dash in some of the pictures!). The dessert can be starkly boring to some, but there is interesting stuff there if you look. Not much in these pictures tho! [ATTACH]27351[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]27352[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]27353[/ATTACH] You can see the Guadalupe Mountains slowly looming up in the distance in that last picture. Well, after several hundred miles and the spare gas, I finally decided I should slow down a little after I went on reserve the second time! My brother had taken a separate route that day while I cavorted around in the sand dunes, and he wisely stopped for gas at the Dell City cutoff (I foolishly laughed and thumbed my nose at them as I whizzed by, nothing but a blur!). Anyway, I came up on both Tom and Chuck (5bikes) waiting for me a short ways out of El Paso. I had been on fumes for a while, but still thought I had it made. No such luck! Died by the road just three miles from salvation! Had to beg gas from my brother - oh, what ignominy! We've been in El Paso with 5bikes and his lovely wife Linda for a couple of days now. Tom's rear tire is getting thin, so he decided it was best to change it here before we headed down the long dessert border to Brownsville. Well, they don't like 2nd gen Ventures much in this part of the country!!! Ain't no 150/90-15 tire to be had ANYWHERE within 200 miles! Spent half the day on the phone and internet today looking for one before we finally found a rape service in California that could overnight a tire to us for $120 SHIPPING! And no, they didn't throw the tire in for that price too! Hoping to see it tomorrow so we can mount it and get out of the hair of these great folks here. Chuck and Linda have been fantastic hosts, and l_g, another antique rider in the area has been a great person to meet too. We are truly lucky to have met such great new friends out here. I guess that's all for now - maybe another post after we make our way down through Big Bend National Park. Y'all ride safe now, y'hear? Goose

Just an FYI on my most recent order from Southwest Moto Tire in Tucson, Arizona. I have ordered from them many times before and always received the tires within 2-3 days (standard free shipping). I always considered this fantastic service. I just placed an order for three tires last Wednesday - Fed-ex shipping confirmation estimates delivery NEXT Wednesday - full 7 days. May not be too bad, but it is a far cry from what I have come to expect from SWMT. Can't say if this is due to the new owners or just a strange set of circumstances, but thought I'd at least share the info. Goose

Others have already described the fuel pump operation, so I just wanted to make sure you knew the 5-year unlimited mileage warranty still applies to your bike - you don't have to do anything but take it to a dealer and tell the to fix the problem. Even though you have heard the fuel pump click a few times when building up pressure, intermittent problems with the pump is not uncommon. Goose

Those are the pieces I used to fabricate mounting cans for the gauges on my 07. They are both exhaust parts I found by just taking the gauges in to an auto parts store and manually testing the fit in various pieces of pipe. I use the chrome exhaust tip to make the mount for the ammeter on the handlebar where the chrome was important. I used the galvanized exhaust pipe to make a couple of cans to weld together and mount under the dash for the other two gauges. Goose

Those are the pieces I used to fabricate mounting cans for the gauges on my 07. They are both exhaust parts I found by just taking the gauges in to an auto parts store and manually testing the fit in various pieces of pipe. I use the chrome exhaust tip to make the mount for the ammeter on the handlebar where the chrome was important. I used the galvanized exhaust pipe to make a couple of cans to weld together and mount under the dash for the other two gauges. Goose

We will be in El Paso tomorrow afternoon - may need to hang around for a day or two longer for my brother to get a new rear tire. If so, I could run up there and take a look. No promises, but I'll give you a call Sunday night to talk about it. Goose

The non-fouler is not used to mount anything, just to make an adaptor to fit the water temp sensor into the head. If you bought a commercial 18mm adaptor, you don't need the non-fouler for anything. You can mount the temp sensor in any cylinder head that does not already have a water return line in that spot. But you will find that the easiest place by far is the left rear. Don, your readings sound about right. Your oil pressure at idle will be much lower when the oil is fully hot (quite a while after the water is hot). Generally at idle, the oil pressure will be just barely off the stop pin. Normal running when fully heated up and about 3,000 RPM generally shows about 20 - 25lbs. Shop manual calls for oil to hold 50lbs at 5,000 RPM when hot, and both of mine have. The water temp normally runs right at 210 when outside temps are warm, and it will stay right there all day when you are moving. When you stop on a hot day, the temp rises pretty quick until the fan kicks in around 225 or 230, then it drops fast. If the outside temp is around 35 degrees, the water temp seems to hold closer to 200 (1 degree rise in air temp increases engine temp by 5 degrees, until it gets warm enough for the thermostat to hold it at 210. If you find just the right combination of cold riding and fast speed (about 33 degrees and 80 MPH a few days ago for me), you will find a strange combination where the thermostat cannot find a balanced setting - seems that the instant it starts to open, the water cools so fast in the radiator that the thermostat shuts quickly and you see the temp meter constantly jump between 200 and 230 as the thermostat keeps opening a little and closing. Kinda strange the first time you see it, but I guess not everyone rides all day at 33 degrees like I do! Goose

The non-fouler is not used to mount anything, just to make an adaptor to fit the water temp sensor into the head. If you bought a commercial 18mm adaptor, you don't need the non-fouler for anything. You can mount the temp sensor in any cylinder head that does not already have a water return line in that spot. But you will find that the easiest place by far is the left rear. Don, your readings sound about right. Your oil pressure at idle will be much lower when the oil is fully hot (quite a while after the water is hot). Generally at idle, the oil pressure will be just barely off the stop pin. Normal running when fully heated up and about 3,000 RPM generally shows about 20 - 25lbs. Shop manual calls for oil to hold 50lbs at 5,000 RPM when hot, and both of mine have. The water temp normally runs right at 210 when outside temps are warm, and it will stay right there all day when you are moving. When you stop on a hot day, the temp rises pretty quick until the fan kicks in around 225 or 230, then it drops fast. If the outside temp is around 35 degrees, the water temp seems to hold closer to 200 (1 degree rise in air temp increases engine temp by 5 degrees, until it gets warm enough for the thermostat to hold it at 210. If you find just the right combination of cold riding and fast speed (about 33 degrees and 80 MPH a few days ago for me), you will find a strange combination where the thermostat cannot find a balanced setting - seems that the instant it starts to open, the water cools so fast in the radiator that the thermostat shuts quickly and you see the temp meter constantly jump between 200 and 230 as the thermostat keeps opening a little and closing. Kinda strange the first time you see it, but I guess not everyone rides all day at 33 degrees like I do! Goose

Let's get some facts straight here - I have just looked at the shop manual, and I cannot find anywhere that it says to not reuse the stock clutch spring bolts. It is never a bad idea to use new bolts, but it IS a bad idea to use any bolt with a different specification that called for by the design. If you want to replace the bolts, you should use stock bolts. There is no reason the stock bolts should ever snap if they are not over torqued or damaged. But if you do not have an inch-pound wrench, you can't tighten them correctly. I don't know of any ft-lb wrenches that will accurately read 5.8 ft lbs. Of course, those of you using metric torque wrenches will need to figure out the right tool too. Since the Barnett clutch pressure plate and springs are a different design, I would use whatever bolts that manufacturer specifies, but for the PCW upgrade spring, I personally just re-use the stock clutch spring bolts. BUT, if you have EVER over-tightened a bolt, or suspect you have by using the wrong torque wrench, you SHOULD ABSOLUTELY replace it with a new bolt. This is especially true for any bolt with a low tensile rating like the clutch spring bolts. THEREFORE, for anyone who has ever snapped one of these clutch spring bolts, I strongly recommend you replace all six of them just to be sure they have not been weakened from over tightening. Goose

Sorry I can't help you much here Jeff. I know they must have the adaptor, since they sell an oil pressure gauge kit for the bike, but they may not sell it separately. But frankly, making one is just so danged easy I would rather do that than take the time to try and find one, place an order and wait for it. You might just go to the counter in an autoparts store and see if they can order an M20-1.5 to 1/8NPT adaptor - maybe it is easy for them to find? And what the hell is a "water bolt"? Goose

Sorry I can't help you much here Jeff. I know they must have the adaptor, since they sell an oil pressure gauge kit for the bike, but they may not sell it separately. But frankly, making one is just so danged easy I would rather do that than take the time to try and find one, place an order and wait for it. You might just go to the counter in an autoparts store and see if they can order an M20-1.5 to 1/8NPT adaptor - maybe it is easy for them to find? And what the hell is a "water bolt"? Goose

Simply keep going back to the same post you want to use and re-edit it to add more or insert a picture anywhere the cursor is. All pictures must be added using the Manage Attachments, like you did above. Then if you don't do anything else with them, they will just show up together at the end of your post. But if you want to insert one at a particular place in the text, first add it with Manage Attachments, then use the paperclip icon at the top of the message editing window to select a picture to insert wherever the cursor is at that time. Like this:[ATTACH]27096[/ATTACH] If you want the picture to be flush with the left side, add a carriage return before you insert it. If you want the following text to start at the right bottom corner of the picture, just start typing immediately after the picture. If you want the following text to start at the left side UNDER the picture, add a carriage return after the picture before you start typing. If you are going to insert several pictures in the same place, add a couple of spaces between each one so they are separated a bit. Don't be shy to experiment and edit it as much as you like to get the post to look like you want. When you get all done with the writeup, just let me know which post you want saved for posterity, and I will move it to the Tech Library. Goose